L'Aquila Rugby 1936 was an Italian rugby union club based in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo. The official colours of the club were black and green, the colours of the city of L'Aquila. The club went into liquidation and disbanded in 2018.[1]

L'Aquila Rugby
Full nameL’Aquila Rugby 1936 S.S.D. A.R.L.
UnionFederazione Italiana Rugby
Founded1936
Disbanded2018
LocationL'Aquila, Italy
Ground(s)Stadio Tommaso Fattori (Capacity: 10,000)
PresidentMauro Zaffiri
Coach(es)Massimo Di Marco
League(s)Top12
2014–159th (Excellence)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
laquilarugbyclub.it

History edit

The roots of L'Aquila Rugby date back to the 1930s when, between 1936 and 1942, L'Aquila took part in tournaments organized by the Comandi Federali della GIL. It reached its peak in the 1937–38 season when, after Tommaso Fattori, a legendary figure for the history of the club (the stadium of L'Aquila, Stadio Tommaso Fattori is named after him), joined the team, the club won the local tournament qualifying for the final one, where it finished the season fourth out of 54 participants. It first played in a championship in 1948.

In 1949–50 L'Aquila participated in the Serie B and were in contention for promotion to Serie A up to the final game of the season, Genoa eventually winning out. The following year the team won promotion to the Serie A then the highest division in Italy. In 1958–59 they were losing finalists in the Serie A Grand Final. In 1963–64 they were relegated to Serie B, but returned to Serie A the following year. They won their first title in 1967 defeating Fiamme Oro Padova 6 to 0. Two years later they won their second title after having won 18 games out of 22 without losing a match.

The 1970s weren't a good decade for the Aquilani, as they won only one Italian Cup in 1973. In the 1980s they won two more titles in 1981 (league and cup double) and 1982. These were the years of Massimo Mascioletti (54 caps with the Italian national team), Serafino Ghizzoni (60 caps) and Luigi Troiani (47 caps). Then another period of not brilliant results followed, before they could celebrate their fifth title in 1993–94 after having defeated Milan 23–14 in the historical final in Padua. In 1999–2000 L'Aquila Rugby played another final for the Italian title, losing 35–17 against Roma in the match played in the Flaminio stadium.

In 2001–02 L'Aquila were part of the newly formed Super 10 (now Top12).

In 2009–10 L'Aquila were promoted back to the National Championship of Excellence, finishing 8th in this season.

Current squad edit

2014-15: Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Nicola Breglia Hooker   Italy
Alessio Cocchiaro Hooker   Italy
Nicola Rettagliata Hooker   Italy
Giovanni Marchetto Hooker   Italy
Luigi Milani Prop   Italy
Stefano Iovenitti Prop   Italy
Davide Di Roberto Prop   Italy
Davide Sebastiani Prop   Italy
Antonio Brandolini Prop   Italy
Dario Subrizi Prop   Italy
Alessandro Cialone Lock   Italy
Vittorio Flaminni Lock   Italy
Adolfo Caila Lock   Italy
Lorenzo Fiore Lock   Italy
Rossano Fagnani Flanker   Italy
Luca di Cicco Flanker   Italy
Andrea Lofrese Flanker   Italy
Domiziano Gorla Flanker   Italy
Mattia Catelan Flanker   Italy
Michele Boccardo Flanker   Italy
Simone Ceccarelli Number 8   Italy
Player Position Union
Nicolò Speranza Scrum-half   Italy
Guido Leone Scrum-half   Italy
Simon Picone (c) Scrum-half   Italy
Giulio Forte Fly-half   Italy
Simone Matzeu Fly-half   Italy
Joaquin Andrés Riera Fly-half   Argentina
Giorgio Erbolini Centre   Italy
Alessio Mattocchia Centre   Italy
Josateki Brown Centre   Fiji
Ezequiel Cortes Centre   Argentina
Alberto Bonifazi Wing   Italy
Jonathon Edwards Wing   Sweden
Lorenzo Crotti Wing   Italy
Valerio Santillo Wing   Italy
Marco Ferrini Fullback   Italy
Francesco Palmisano Fullback   Italy
  • International are capped in Bold

Honours edit

  • National Championship of Excellence:
    • Champions: 1967, 1969, 1981, 1982, 1994
  • Coppa Italia:
    • Champions: 1973, 1981
  • Reserves Championship:
    • Champions: 1967, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1985
  • Under 19/20:
    • Champions: 1950, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1979, 1981, 1995, 1997
  • Under 17/18:
    • Champions: 1977
  • Coppa Primavera Under 17:
    • Champions: 1967
  • Under 15/16:
    • Champions: 1977

Notable players edit

Statistics edit

European Challenge Cup edit

Season Played Won Drawn Lost For Against
2001–02 6 2 0 4 107 239
2002–03 2 0 0 2 19 133
2003–04 2 0 0 2 11 125
2004–05 2 0 0 2 48 109
2005–06 6 0 0 6 103 358

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "L'Aquila Rugby Club non parteciperà alla prossima Serie A". On Rugby. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.

External links edit